<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>I lost my heart on the carousel by Linadoon</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623017">I lost my heart on the carousel</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linadoon/pseuds/Linadoon'>Linadoon</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stories of the Jellicle Tribe [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Background Relationships, Circus, Drama, F/M, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Polyamory, Pregnancy, Romance, Slow To Update, headcanons, i don't know how train stations work, quick slow burn, there are no trains where i live</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:07:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,712</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623017</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linadoon/pseuds/Linadoon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two different people<br/>In love for an instant<br/>To see that the circus came today<br/>Sometimes I can hear her crying here<br/>And I can hear her calling me<br/>-<br/>The circus has arrived in town! Miangellica has never been to the circus and is excited to see the show, little does she know, it isn't the show that will get her attention.<br/>-<br/>(tags and rating may change)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jennyanydots/Bustopher Jones/Skimbleshanks, Original Character/Original Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Stories of the Jellicle Tribe [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2223459</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I lost my heart on the carousel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Summary lyrics from Michael Jackson's Carousel.<br/>- Mainly OC x OC<br/>- Background relationships:<br/>Skimbleshanks x Bustopher Jones x Jennyanydots<br/>Old Deuteronomy x Grizabella<br/>Jellylorum x Asparagus Jr.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>   Skimbleshanks meowed as the passengers left the train. Some looked over to him with a smile, some even waved, but others ignored him. He paid those no mind. It had been a surprisingly calm train trip, he did find a mouse and quickly took care of it before it could bother the humans, but that’s about it.</p><p>   But he knew that, no matter how hard or how little he worked that night, nice food and rest would be waiting for him once they reached their destination as a reward. Which was exactly what he wanted, food and rest, before he left to visit the junkyard.</p><p>   Skimbleshanks stretched and let out a large yawn, exiting the train, meowing over to the engineer and the conductor.</p><p>   “<em>Hey, boss.</em>” The men smiled at him, and the engineer squatted down to rub in between the cat’s ears, much to his delight.</p><p>   He followed the two over to the office where the work force met and one of them was quick to “prepare” a bit of food for the cat before going about their paperwork.</p><p>   “<em>You got the news?</em>” Skimble’s ears picked up the conversation between two station workers. “<em>The circus is arriving.</em>”</p><p>   “A circus!” Skimbleshanks purred in excitement, his tail twitching ever so slightly and held up high. “Oh, I remember the last time one came around! It has been so long…” He stopped for a moment, reminiscing in those memories.</p><p>   It was a while ago, but he did remember it very well, after all, it was the first “date” he had shared with both Jennyanydots and Bustopher Jones. He laughed, thinking about how he and the tabby queen didn’t get along that well at the time, until Bustopher Jones entered the scene.</p><p>   “Oh, good times…” Skimbleshanks let out a nostalgic mewl.</p><p>   He had just finished his food and followed after the humans to make sure everything was in order before he took his leave.</p><p>   Apparently, the train wasn’t going to leave till Monday, due to problems with the last trip they had. Skimbleshanks would normally just shake his whiskers at that, humans could hardly do things correctly, it was a pity he wasn’t there to deal with the problem when it happened.</p><p>   Oh, well, that meant more time in the junkyard with his mates and kittens!</p><p>   It wasn’t till later, after he had his afternoon tea and was leaving the office that he heard something interesting.</p><p>   “<em>They’ll stop by platform 2, be sure to inform the others.</em>” The human tom informed. “<em>We can help and direct them out through--</em>"</p><p>   The sound of another train arriving in the station tuned them out for the ginger cat. He turned to the newcomer, watching as colorful and unusual compartments came closer.</p><p>   Could that be? The circus train!</p><p>   He couldn’t help but run down the platform, feeling as giddy and excited as a young kitten. The train was quite large and large painted images covered the wagons, each more colorful than the other, depicting their many attractions and shows.</p><p>  Skimbleshanks followed as the train slowly stopped by the platform. He studied the images, recognizing clowns and trapezists – he always found trapezists so interesting, it was funny to see humans jumping and moving almost like cats.</p><p>   Skimbleshanks stopped at a certain image.</p><p>   It showed a man wearing a black jacket and a bowtie, with a top hat in one of his paws and a wand in another. A magician.</p><p>   Now, the ginger cat couldn’t help but chuckle at the image. Humans weren’t magical, for them magic was nothing but silly little tricks that had no actual magical element behind. Skimbleshanks was pretty sure it was a good thing that humans had no magic. He could hardly imagine what those silly giants would do with such powers!</p><p>   There was a cat painted together with the man, black from his ears to the tip of his tail, and wearing an open chested red vest.</p><p>   A magical cat?</p><p>   Now, that was different.</p><p>   Maybe it was nothing but a normal cat who just helped the human with his tricks, or maybe it was indeed a magical cat – who just happened to have a human as it’s assistant.</p><p>   Skimbleshanks wasn’t sure what to think. He had already met his fair share of magical cats, and had mostly good experiences with them, but magical cats were known to be quite unpredictable.</p><p>   He just hoped that black cat was no trouble maker. Skimbleshanks would not allow any trouble makers on his train station!</p><p>   The ginger cat continued down the platform.</p><p>   “Hello!” A loud meow startled him, coming from above. “Nice seeing a feline face around here!”</p><p>   Skimbleshanks looked up, ears and tail down, unsure, as he saw a black form looking down at him from a small window on top of one of the simplest wagons. It honestly looked like he was staring into nothing but darkness, with the exception of a few white furs on the face and two large eyes, one green, the other yellow.</p><p>   “Oh, hello…” Skimble said, relaxing and noticing the cat seemed familiar. “Ah! Are you per chance--” He took a few steps back, looking up a the painted wagon and back to the black cat, who quickly jumped down to the platform as the train slowly came to a stop. It was exactly the same cat, red vest and all.</p><p>   “Dr. Diavolo!” The black cat pulled on his red vest, taking a bow. “Pleased to meet you…?” He raised his head, pointing to the ginger cat and leaning his head to the side.</p><p>   “Skimbleshanks!” He answered, feeling a bit more comfortable with Diavolo’s polite tone.</p><p>   “Skimbleshanks.” Diavolo smiled repeating the name, looking over to the train and then back to the cat. “I’ve heard that we were arriving a bit too early today, so I apologize if your people here weren’t ready for us.”</p><p>   “Oh, do not worry. Humans are quite adaptative creatures.” Skimble said, though he kept an eye as the guards approached the circus train. “Say, are you a magical cat?”</p><p>   “That I am!” Diavolo practically beamed at the railway cat, his white teeth seemed to shine against the blackness of his fur. “Gotta be one, to make poor Phillipe’s magic show worth something.” He chuckled, before leaning towards the other. “Don’t tell him I said that. He is a good assistant.”</p><p>   Skimbleshanks couldn’t help but laugh at the cat’s humor.</p><p>   “Oh, I know how it is to work with humans.” He mentioned and Diavolo laughed with him. The two continued walking together towards the humans who were sharing information. “It has been a while since the last time a circus visited…” Skimble mentioned.</p><p>   “Oh? Do you like the circus?” Diavolo smile widened.</p><p>   “Is there anyone who doesn’t?” Skimbleshanks chuckled.</p><p>   “You would be surprised.” Diavolo shrugged, side-eyeing the ginger cat with a smile that turned into a smirk. “It’s nice to find a cat with good taste.”</p><p>   Skimbleshanks was taken by surprise by the words and the cat’s tone. Well, that was quite forward, especially to a cat he had just met. There was a playful glint on Diavolo’s eyes and, in the end, Skimble couldn’t help but laugh at the black cat’s advance. And even if he wasn’t mated and happy with the relationships he already was in, the black cat definitely didn’t seem to be his type. Still, he was flattered.</p><p>   “I don’t remember meeting a magical cat in the troupe of the last circus I’ve visited.” He continued the conversation.</p><p>   “Well, the Starling Brothers Circus has already visited London many times. But I’m new, this is my first time here!” Diavolo explained with a joyful tone, and didn’t seem to be affected by the fact that his flirting was clearly deflected.</p><p>   “Oh, well, I hope you enjoy the town.” Skimble said as a nice citizen would do to a newcomer.</p><p>   “Maybe you can show me around!” This time Diavolo straight up winked at him.</p><p>   “I’m sorry, but I work with the Night Mail train, so I won’t really stick around for long.” Skimbleshanks explained, smiling at the cat’s advances.</p><p>   Diavolo was definitely playful, but in a friendly way, and it was easy to see he had already understood the ginger cat had no interest in answering the flirting.</p><p>   “Oh, I see.” Diavolo nodded with a chuckle. “But are you going to be around this weekend?”</p><p>   “I do believe so.” The ginger cat said, arching an eyebrow.</p><p>   “Well! We’ll be open by them!” The black cat practically jumped in front of the other, startling him slightly. Diavolo did what could only be described as a jig, ending with a pose, holding tightly to the sides of his red vest. “Why don’t you come over, Night Mail cat? Bring whoever you wish as well! You will all be welcome!”</p><p>   Skimbleshanks laughed and nodded. The two continued talking while the humans took their time, with Skimble telling Diavolo a few things about the place and especially how the train station worked. The black cat listened with interest and attention, throwing a few jokes here and there, even when unnecessary, as if he was a kitten – which he definitely wasn’t.</p><p>   Yes, he seemed like a nice cat, and despite being quite extroverted, Skimbleshanks was already feeling a bit tired of continuing their socialization. The black cat did indeed act like a bumbling, energetic kitten!</p><p>   “Ah, Diavolo, there you are. Come on.” A voice got their attention at one point. A man dressed in a surprisingly simple outfit walked over to the cats with a smile. “Ah, you made a friend?”</p><p>   “Gotta go.” Diavolo said to the ginger cat. “Please, do come this weekend!”</p><p>   “I will.” Skimble nodded, even though he didn’t know for sure.</p><p>   Diavolo sent him one more smile and a flick of the tip of his black tail, before following after the human and jumping into the train’s first compartment.</p><p>   Well, that was different. Circus people, what to expect? Most of them were quite eccentric.</p><p>   Still, Skimbleshanks thought about Diavolo’s offer, remembering fondly of the few visits he made to a circus. Well, he was going to stay around until Monday, so he should as well enjoy it. Now all he needed to do was ask Jenny and Bustopher to know if they were up for the date.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And yes! Dr. Diavolo, named after the Dutch Mistoffelees who is called such.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>